Former Montana Attorney General Mike Greely died

GREAT FALLS (AP) — Former Montana Attorney General Mike Greely, who hired the state’s first medical examiner, has died. He was 76.

Winston Greely said Monday that his father died unexpectedly on Jan. 26 at his family cabin on the Missouri River. A memorial service is planned at 11 a.m. Saturday in the old Supreme Court chambers at the Montana State Capitol.

Michael Truman Greely was born in Great Falls and attended Yale and the University of Montana law school. He served as assistant attorney general, deputy Cascade County attorney and in both houses of the state legislature.

He was elected attorney general in 1976 and served three four-year terms. During that time he established a statewide criminal investigations unit and modernized the state crime lab. He improved law enforcement training and pioneered a program that provides skilled prosecutors to prosecute major felony cases.

He successfully defended Montana’s 30 percent coal severance tax before the U.S. Supreme Court and argued other cases as well, Winston Greely said.

Greely, a Democrat, ran for governor in 1988 and for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court in 1992. He lost both races.

He finished his career in private practice.

Greely is survived by his wife, Marilyn, three children and two grandchildren.